Brown speaks up in Stratham

Friday

Aug 29, 2014 at 2:00 AM

STRATHAM — Former Republican Massachusetts senator and New Hampshire Senate candidate Scott Brown pulled into town Tuesday night for his fifth "New Hampshire Speaks" town hall-style meeting, where he lambasted the current administration and took questions from concerned residents about what he would do if elected to help fix, in Brown's words, "a world on fire."

Erik Hawkins

STRATHAM — Former Republican Massachusetts senator and New Hampshire Senate candidate Scott Brown pulled into town Tuesday night for his fifth "New Hampshire Speaks" town hall-style meeting, where he lambasted the current administration and took questions from concerned residents about what he would do if elected to help fix, in Brown's words, "a world on fire."

The auditorium at the Stratham Municipal Center was crowded with local supporters and activists, including New Hampshire state Rep. Patrick Abrami and state Sen. Nancy Stiles, who introduced Brown.

"Scott has been working as hard as anyone I've ever seen, all over our state," Stiles said. "When people get to sit down and have a conversation with him, people understand what he's about and why we need to send him to Washington, D.C."

Brown's speech was supposed to focus on foreign policy, according to his communications team, but after a moment of silence for Rochester-born journalist James Foley, who was recently slain by terrorists in Syria, Brown spent only a minute or so on the topic, dedicating the vast majority of time instead to taking questions from attendees on whatever they were concerned about.

Brown expressed his concern over the Islamic State terror group, saying that its ultimate goal is to "march down Pennsylvania Avenue and plant a flag in the White House," also stating that in his opinion, the United States' relationship with Israel is currently the worst it has been since its creation.

Brown added that he felt Mitt Romney was correct in his 2012 assessment of Russia as a serious geopolitical foe of the U.S., pointing to the recent annexation of the Crimean peninsula and ongoing situation in Ukraine.

Brown admitted that these international crises had begun to brew long ago, but had been "exacerbated" by President Barack Obama's drawing of a "red line" on the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and perceived failure to follow through.

The questions Brown took came mostly from strong supporters, with the notable exception of one man who repeatedly asked Brown if he would ever consider legislation putting a limit on gun magazine capacities, and if it was constitutionally permissible for Congress to do so. Brown responded that as a gun owner, he respects the right of citizens to keep and bear arms, but "can't comment on a fictitious piece of legislation," and that he'd require meetings "like this one" before voting on any such legislation.

With regard to illegal immigration, Brown expressed his opposition to the Dream Act. One attendee asked Brown about his stance, referencing a possible upcoming executive order that, he said, may allow 5 or 6 million illegal immigrants to become legal citizens.

"We are a compassionate country, a loving country, and we should make sure that all these young people especially coming into our country are safe and secure, and then we have to make sure they're going back to their country of origin," Brown said. He also referred to the current enforcement of immigration policy as a neon sign saying that people will be rewarded for crossing our borders and breaking our laws.

"It's dangerous, and we don't know who's coming through that porous border," he added.

Larry Herman of Stratham said he has been following Brown since his election in Massachusetts in 2010.

"I follow national politics, and I find his rapport with the constituents to be amazing," Herman said. "He also votes with his party and against his party ... he votes for his constituents."

Dave Canada said he liked that Brown is "not pandering to the far right."

"And contrary to what some people say, he does have good, strong roots here in New Hampshire," Canada added.

Stratham resident Laura Chamberlain was the last to ask a question, and later expressed her support of Brown, saying that the border was her No. 1 concern, with the national debt a close second. "I'm more concerned about this country than I've ever been in my entire life," she said.

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